Social & Environmental Justice - Australian Conservation Foundation

AbstractOur living environment is critically important to our quality of life. It is unjust and unfairthat the risks and costs of production are loaded on to the living environments of somepeople, while others enjoy the benefits but avoid the costs. In a wider sense, too, wehumans are responsible for the environment, because the environment is the living spaceof all other creatures.page1In exploring the connection between social justice and environmental responsibility,we develop two related concepts: environmental justice and ecological justice. The firstconcerns the fair distribution of ‘good’(attractive, safe) and ‘bad’ (ugly, hazardous)environments among humans. The second concerns the just relationship between humansand the natural world. The paper begins by examining four case studies: the siting of toxicand hazardous chemical facilities in Melbourne, the logging of old growth forests in EastGippsland, uranium mining at Jabiluka in the Northern Territory, and Australia’s current‘greenhouse’ policy. These cases reveal, we argue, prima facie evidence of environmental andecological injustice.‘Combining social justice with environmentalresponsibility involves two basic concepts:environmental justice and ecological justice.’While environmental justicecentres on the welfare ofhumans, ecological justicetakes a wider perspective.Conserving the integrity of theplanet means expanding further the sphere of morality. Our argument rests on the notion thatwe care for non-human nature primarily because we value ourselves by caring for the planet.In the final part of the paper we argue that the moral foundation of today’s politics andeconomy is too restricted to encompass humanity’s concern for society and the environment.We argue for a three level expansion of the idea of justice. We conclude that social andenvironmental justice are closely connected. A shift is needed in thinking about Australianenvironmental and social policy to demonstrate the connection. In the United States the rightto environmental justice is now law. We must consider what Australia can do during the nextcentury to reconcile economic and ecological globalisation in order to achieve social,environmental and ecological justice. We propose that principles of environmental justice beincorporated in legislation, and an immediate public inquiry be held into environmental andecological justice in Australia.